Volume 10, Number 2, Fall 2017

EN:

The authors relate how they reflected upon, understood, and shared conversations about Aboriginal experiences at work across time and with different audiences. They found nuances in their understanding and interpretation as their audience changed from sharing circle members, to Cando conference attendees, and finally the Academy. Whereas initial impressions highlighted concepts of strength and resilience, which the authors translated into practical recommendations for mentorship and cultural safety, the results from an academic analysis highlighted how conversational focus changed when participants discussed work experiences in the past (systemic barriers emphasized), present (Indigenous worldviews emphasized), and future (all concepts discussed equally). The authors offer suggestions for continuing the conversation and new ways of understanding Indigenous employees' experiences at work.

EN:

In 2009, One Earth Farms (OEF) established farming operations on First Nation reserves in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada. The partnership that was created with First Nations was seen by some as a new model for Canadian agriculture; one that reduced agribusiness risk while enhancing the economic and social welfare of First Nation communities. Notwithstanding the purported social and economic advantages, by 2014, OEF discontinued its contracts with its First Nation partners. The failings of OEF have since been attributed to a flawed foundation, built on a culture and people with a sense of entitlement. Yet this research has found that conflicting timelines, the misalignment of goals, and failure to deliver on what was most important to First Nations are most attributable to the failing of OEF. In this paper we present important lessons learned that if considered can result in more informed and sustained partnerships between First Nations and the private agricultural sector.

EN:

This paper explores the ecological, social, and political implications of the Pacific Northwest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which was approved in September 2016 to be built on Lelu Island, British Columbia. The paper situates this LNG project in Canada's settler colonial history and in recent debates over pipelines in British Columbia. Following a description of the approved project, the paper explores the perspectives of industry leaders, government officials, environmental experts, and First Nation communities. Industry leaders support the development, citing economic growth and a reduction in global carbon emissions as benefits. Governments officials largely agree with industry leaders, stating the project would create jobs. They also argue that the project would have limited environmental impacts. However, environmental experts disagree, stating that the project would increase global carbon emissions and have irreversible damages on the local environment. Finally, First Nation communities are divided: some see the project as an economic opportunity while others believe it will result in environmental degradation. However, despite the range of concerns raised by these actors, significant issues have been overlooked. The paper explores these oversights, which include the fact that 'buried' colonial epistemologies underlie the debate and that Lelu Island is unceded Indigenous territory. Overall, the research presented in this paper suggests that the project should not precede until (all) members of the affected First Nation communities have been properly consulted.

EN:

Economic development requires skilled labour yet Indigenous people face persistent educational and labour market challenges across northern Canada. Systemic problems are widely known and relate to political funding cycles, short-term programming, and the lack of collaboration among key stakeholders. Such barriers are not only consistent across northern territorial and provincial jurisdictions, but they are widely known and well-documented. Research and stakeholder interviews suggest that barriers to education and successful transition to the labour market are a result of disjointed and short-term educational and skills-training programs that do not recognize the importance of fully supporting the learner, their families, and their communities. This paper identifies and examines best practices aimed to close the gap between education and skills training to meet successful long-term employment goals. Specifically, we suggest that using a holistic approach to training could help to advance economic development goals that promote Aboriginal participation in the market economy.

EN:

Much Indigenous studies scholarship asserts that Indigenous peoples must reject capitalism. On the other hand, many (scholars and non-scholars alike) assume that the success of Indigenous communities depends on their willingness to uncritically embrace capitalism. Utilizing Kevin Bruyneel's The Third Space of Sovereignty, this article argues that First Nations can both demand "rights and resources from the liberal democratic settler-state" and challenge "the imposition of colonial rule." In other words, First Nations can simultaneously participate in capitalism and further their sovereignty, and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation provides an example of how this might be done.

EN:

According to conventional metrics, such as the low-income cut-off and social assistance rates, Indigenous peoples in Canada have disproportionately high levels of poverty. But what does poverty mean from an Indigenous perspective? Drawing on data from the Poverty Action Research Project (PARP) — a five-year partnership between academic researchers, the Assembly of First Nations, and five First Nations communities in different regions of Canada seeking to reduce poverty and improve community health — this paper examines the relational and subjective aspects of poverty and well-being. Our analysis of PARP communities' discussions of poverty and actions to address it suggests that poverty is seen through the lens of what the Anishinaabek call Mino-Bimaadiziwin, which describes "living well" in a holistic, multidimensional, and community-centered sense. Interventions to address poverty therefore would be better framed as initiatives to enable the pursuit of a good life, as Indigenous people understand it, and must consider not only the economic impacts, but also the interrelated environmental, political, intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual, and cultural dimensions.

EN:

The employment and participation rates for Aboriginals improved in 2016 over 2015, while the unemployment rate remained the same. However, Aboriginals, as well as non-Aboriginals, have not reached the 2007 levels they were prior to the recession of 2008- 2009. Wages have improved annually and in most years at a rate greater than the consumer price index. This applies for Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals, except in 2016, when wages were basically unchanged for Aboriginals. In general, the rates of employment, unemployment, participation and wages are more favourable for non-Aboriginals than for Aboriginals. However, when examined by the level of education completed, employment rates are similar.

Employment and wages are examined for the previous ten years, focusing on changes in 2007, which was prior to the recession, in 2010, immediately after the recession and in 2015 and 2016. Gender, age and educational differences are discussed.

EN:

This paper discusses the state of economic activity in Aboriginal Quebec, Canada, focusing on the size of settlements both on-reserve and off-reserve. Size is an important variable in understanding the economic possibilities of a community. Data is also presented for off-reserve Aboriginals living in big cities and in smaller towns.

Findings show there are relatively few Indigenous people in Quebec and that they are scattered across many distinct nations. Most Indigenous people on-reserve live in very small settlements. Most towns in Quebec hold an Indigenous community, albeit not necessarily visible. Most Indigenous people off-reserve live in larger centres (Greater Montreal, Gatineau, Quebec City). The Outaouais region, on the north-shore of the Ottawa River, is a unique part of Quebec with its high percentage of Indigenous populations living off-reserve.